Some awkward semantic ambiguities lurk in the language of voodoo followers. For example, "to eat someone" means to capture that individual's spirit through sorcery. Within its own network of beliefs and practices, voodoo has its own order, yet one that is antithetical to the Cartesian version of reality. In voodoo, the imagination has no bounds.
Every believer is convinced that it is possible to capture supernatural forces, enclose them in bottles or packets, called wanga, and use the wanga to prepare and cast spells. Conflicts or rivalries between families, neighbors, or friends from the same neighborhood or village often give rise to the use of a wanga. It may employ defensive magic that does not lead to death. At the most, a wanga causes sickness or various setbacks. It has limited sphere of action and applies only to the individual targeted.
Using a baka, a malevolent power that takes the form of a dwarf, a small monster, or an animal, is another story. People who resort to them are taking a big risk, for the bloodthirsty baka may demand a member of their family in exchange for its services.
Other actions delve into the realm of sorcery and take aim at the progressive deterioration of the target. The "werewolves" who devote themselves to this end are sorcerers, possessed by insatiable spirits, who are believed to turn themselves into animals in order to suck the blood of babies. The tendency to become a werewolf can be inherited, or it can be the result of the rash act of buying evil spirits.
Servants of the lwa follow the custom of taking luck baths in an oufo or in the home, as well as in springs and rivers where lwa live. To prepare a luck bath at home requires various leaves, plants, and herbs associated with the lwa, and thus having curative powers. To these might be added orgeat, perfume, or jasmine flowers. The priest rubs this concoction on the individual while appealing to the lwa for protection. Strengthened by the spiritual qualities of the leaves and the good scent of the perfume that pleases the lwa, the individual can face his or her enemies with confidence. It is possible, however, for a worshiper to take more protection than is needed. Having too much "luck" turns a person into a sorcerer (or a werewolf). Taking a luck bath is similar to buying spiritual powers which can turn on the purchaser with such force that they get out of control. The mud baths at Bassin-Saint-Jacques in the Plaine-du-Nord are a destination of pilgrimages, as are Sautd'Eau with its immense waterfall lines with giant trees in which lwa live, and Villebonheur, favored sites for luck baths.
The celebration of carnival in Haiti reaches its high point during the three days before
Ash Wednesday, in which all the shadowed, hidden, or repressed aspects of society at every
level can be freely expressed. Voodoo makes a strong showing in this feast of the
imagination. Thus, some groups assume the costumes of devils, werewolves, and zombies,
conforming exactly to the traditional stories of Haitian voodoo.
GO BACK